One of them...

Oh.. this was intense episode and had all the tragic and all the emotions. The start was specially very tensional as everyone was waiting for Neela and they were bringing those patients in and when they were saying - they have woman in early twenties who are not going to make it - we all thought Neela.. but no.. she is brought in and her condition gets worse.. and there is struggle between Dubenko and Moretti over her treatment.. It was just so heartbreaking to see how Dubenko was trying to do everything to save her.. and Gates.. But it was not only about Neela. There was that little girl and his granddad and the irony - to take her to park to show her the power of democracy and how she ended up.. and the man who was behind it all..

Not bad, but certainly could've been better.

I admit I didn't have high hopes for Season 14 as I was the last person I knew to have seen it, and the reviews I had heard wern't encouraging. However, this episode was a good start. I'm enjoying more patient storylines. I was having semi-flashbacks to the early days of season's 1 and 2.:

The cast is smaller which I am liking. I know this is going to mean near-equal screen time unlike say, season 6 or season 10 in which the cast was above 10 and we only saw a few of those characters. A smaller cast is more personal. I love it.:

It should be noted that I actually LIKED Gates in this episode. Usually I am opposed to his arrogance but it worked for this episode over his concern for Neela. It was nice. Maybe it was the scene in which he lit a lighter in front of the culprit's face. But it will be interesting to see him up in the ICU.:

It was nice to see Abby emerge as a leader in this episode. As Luka's wife, and the doctor who has been at County the longest, it was crucial that she step up, and she did.:

Finally, Moretti. I don't know what to think of him. He's kind of a pain in the neck, truth be told.

This episode gives me a feeling of the early ER seasons. Nice touch!

Most dramatic story: Poor Neela is severely injured and Abby refuses to leave her side. In the OP Abby tells Dubenko to let Crenshaw take charge of the operation. I haven't read any spoilers, but I'm still pretty sure Neela will make it. I've never seen so much blood, though... Weirdest scene: Young patient "peeing" through a suprapubic catheter (a tube in the stomach).
Weirdest patient: The magic mushroom patient who turns out to be a doctor of orthopaedics.
Funniest scene: Pratt, Morris & Abby planning a revolution against Moretti.
Funniest line: Abby (about Moretti) "Where is Mussolini?"
Newest kid on the block: Grady. I didn't see enough of him to form an opinion of him.
Best scene: The scene at the end, when Sam, Pratt, Morris, Abby, Frank and Gates are waiting for Neela to wake up after her op, reminds me of the old ER episodes. Great!

it´s not their best season premiere but it was a really intense episode, i loved the whole neela situation, ER can still make great episodes after 14 years

well as i said before i don´t think this is the best season opener or even one of the best, but it was a great espisode full of intense drama and drama situations, i thought all the neela situation being hurt really bad was great, i just love when stephen cragg is the director because i think he really understands the show and what the writers want to do with each episode, for example i think the final scene was really good: everyone waiting news on neela it really made it a special scene, i hope that ER can make a great season even though they are short of carachters

Huh...I really don't know what I think about this episode

A good episode...but nothing happened in it! OK. Neela...
Neela was just a fact in this episode. Just one more pacient, like another one.
I liked soooo much of Stanley Tucci's appereance.
He's a very wonderful actor.
I missed Abby...Hope...Luka...ever body!!!
Episodes like this one, make me remember of Carter, Mark, Susan...Oh boy...I miss them :(
This episode could be a episode like another, but it was to be the season premiere...not a simple episode
Well...I like and dislike in the same time...
But with a bad season finale...we have a bad season premiere...oh My! I love ER...but the end is really really close...=[...C'mon producers! Make ER better!!! Please!!!!

Wow, it's season 14 already!?!

Is this show ever getting bad? I mean it had stronger episodes and seasons than lately, but it's still in the top 3 of medical dramas after so many years!
The first episode of season 14 (!!) was a decent start, but we've had more dramatic exits than season 13 and better starts than this one. I miss Luka already, not to mention Ray. While Luka will probably be back, we know that Shane West is gone for good which is really sad.
I'm excited about this new season especially with the rumours about a certain beloved former regular coming back shortly :-)

Loved this episode

Loved this episode. this is a great episode. Adventurous action pacted one of the better since the first few seasons. i really enjoyed this episode. i have been waiting all summer for a new episode and here it is a great episode. well done. the acters were really good too. that new docter really makes you hate him at some points. but then he he doesnt at points. really a job well done. i just loved this episode. this is a great way to start the new season and with a show that has been on as long as er has its really saying something. still a great episode.

ER is still the best medical drama today! Still the intense as ever and the drama is better than ever.

What a great episode. Put that on my top 10 intense episodes. I have more than tenm, but, I give Morretti about 3 months in the ER. Does anyone would think that Wild Bill (back on season one) could kick his butt? I was on the edge of my seat or really close to the tv when Neela came in. It was funny, when the commercails were on I drank about 3 deit cokes. I was nervous on what would happen to Neela. Now that we found out and wait until she wakes up. When I saw the ER gang up in the waiting room in the OR, and seating there and heared Morris ask for pizza and then the camra mores back and back of the sad and waiting family waiting for Neela. I give credit to the actors once again. They don't get enough from the shows like ET or Extras. They're more into the Grey's a something up a monkeys butt or something. I give that episode TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, no wait.............................................................................................................................................TEN THUMBS UP! ER is still the best medical drama today. This is the show that gives us the drama, the exsitment and the intense of the stories of characters that we love. Who can not like this show? They must be from somewhere else. Gary's a monkeys butt or something can not top this show.

ER is still the best medical drama today! ER is still the best medical drama today! ER is still the best medical drama today! ER is still the best medical drama today!

With a new ER Chief (Kevin Moretti) Pratt, Morris, Abby, and others take on a mass casualty in the ER which includes Neela.

As long as the writers focus on trauma in the er and stay away from soap opera issues, this show will continue. Somewhere back in season 10 we lost this focus and the show has stumbled. Maybe getting rid of Goro was a good move. In this episode Neela and Gates were out at a demonstration when someone blew up a pipe bomb forcing a monster riot. Neela was trampled and had to go into massive surgery. For a while I thought of season 6 and the doc who was killed in the ER. But Debunko and staff were able to save her!

Reconnecting the viewers with the characters that will share the show this season was exactly what this episode was supposed to do.

So it wasn't the heart stopping action of last season's premiere (and how could they possibly top the exquisite 'Bloodline'??) but this episode did exactly what it was supposed to do. We saw, again, the comraderie between Pratt, Morris and Abby. The animosity for Moretti was restablished. Morris' take charge attitude when basically forcing Pratt to take the blood test to prove they were not working drunk redefined his blossoming leadership abilities. The surgeons were in full battle gear...even towards each other. Gates' inability to control his anger gains him a transfer. I never thought I would ever say this but I missed Hope. Sam...Dawn....CHUNY!!! It was great to see nurses get more screen time...if not dialog. The patients were a wonderfully diverse lot. Too much comedy and not enough angst however. The kid with the picket sign in his chest was SO like me. ("Mom, take a picture! The kids at school are not going to believe this.') The mushroom laden old guy who not only set another patient's broken hand but cast it perfectly as well??? Heh. I really would like to see HIM again. What a nice contrast in treatment styles he would offer. The protest rally 'bomber'...who ended up as the ultimate victim when the Grandpa of a crush victim who died strangled him in anger. (Passionate but didn't have me caring enough for either of them.) And finally...Neela. We never worried about her making it through surgery...the surgery shots were predictably gross and realistic. She was, however, the patient we followed from the ER to Surgery...the one that tied all of the ends together and wrapped the episode into a nice, neat bow. The final screen shot, the major characters that we care about, scattered about the waiting room as they settled in to wait for her to wake up was an indelible image. Maybe not as important as the forefathers poised to sign the Declaration of Independence, but every bit as burned into this viewer's head. We know who we will be dealing with this season. On a final note, it was great to see Maura Tierney listed first in the credits for this season. Fittingly so, as she is the longest reigning main cast member. One has to have tremendous respect for the woman's talent but she does her best stuff as she works off other actors. This leaves me wondering what they have up their sleeves for her this season given the limited appearances of Goran Visnjic. Their on screen relationship and chemistry together was a major drive for the last two seasons. If this is to be her last with ER, I am hoping she gets the kind of material that doesn't leave me wanting to see the two of them together. The ER needs a stable, emphatic and caring leadership that has been missing since Anthony Edwards' exit. Is Tierney strong enough to take on that task? It remains to be seen.....

I hate say it, but this was not a good episode. When this show started, the focus was on the medical side, but now it is more about what personal issues each of the doctors have.

Sure, the ER had to treat the people who had been hurt in the aftermath of the protest, but it seemed they were not that important to the plot. The running gag about Morris and Pratt told they can't work because they had less than a half beer each, and them giving each other BAL tests, was just a waste of time.

The only parts of this episode that even had my attention was the girl with crushed ribs, Neela's heart stopping, the boy with the wood in his chest, and when Gates hauls the guy around the place showing him how he hurt everyone.

I really hope that the writers wake up and take the show back to a place where the medical work is at the top of the importance and there is less "pitty me" speaches from the new ER head.

More of the same and I'm still not interested. I guess this means my Thursday nights can end early.

I guess I'm just not invested. I saw enough last season to hope for a Ray and Neela union and to come to like Abby and Luka. I kind of felt like they came together out of comfort and necessity but sometimes that's real life. Then, the writers decided to yet again remove limbs from characters and there went Ray. Stamos' character...ehhh. He's supposed to be a Clooney replacement but I don't see it. Neela taking center stage of every romantic triangle was just so over the top particularly since she was supposed to be grieving. Anyway, I was still looking forward to this premiere, hoping for something better. I was disappointed. Moretti is the best addition to ER in a long time and I don't think he got enough air time. Neela on the operating table...I could care less. The only cast members I've ever cared about on the show during some type of illness/surgery: Lucy, Carter, Carol, Greene, and Abby (during birth). So, Neela...meh. The chaos of the ER was typical of the show and, after watching all these years, it gets monotonous. I suppose what I'm saying is that I'll do what I did last year. I'll glean what I can from previews and move on. It's just not the ER it once was.

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